The white man’s burden addresses the white race as superior and therefore responsible of civilizing and educating other nations. It was up to white males to take this challenge on and depart to a foreign land; in this context to the Philippines in order to complete their mission. Through the poem the author emphasizes on four themes; race, masculinity, duty and sacrifice. In a way he wishes to persuade the reader into understanding the motives behind colonization and why it was necessary in order for other countries to develop. However, they were most definitely seeking a personal reward above anything else.
Rudyard Kipling sets up the white man as the ideal embodiment of a human, he wants to state the fact that in his opinion no other race
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Also, it is clearly stated that a woman should take no part into colonizing new territories, it is up to men to do so. In addition, the poem refers to the maturity and compromise that US has to take on in order to build their empire; not to choose the easy way but to surpass expectations and achieve success. The third theme is duty, being the most qualified race to take the responsibility of civilizing others; white men had the moral duty to go through with it. To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child breed (Kipling, Rudyard. “The White Man’s Burden.” McClure's Magazine, February 1899). Regardless of the natives not appreciating or cooperating with their what they were doing to aid them, it was still their obligation to continue on their quest. Lastly, sacrifice is an important aspect in reaching success according to Kipling. He wants to ensure that even though it will be challenging, it’ll be worth it at the end. And when your goal is nearest, the end for others sought, watch sloth and heathen folly bring all your hopes to nought (Kipling, Rudyard. “The White Man’s Burden.” McClure's Magazine, February 1899). Kipling suggests that no matter what the outcome is, they
Growing up as an African-American you are always taught to be twice as good. Twice as good as the white people to receive the same treatment as them. I grew up hearing this same phrase constantly but never really understood exactly what it meant until I got old enough to actually see the kind of world we are living in. The author of the article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” Peggy Mclntosh, took as step into shoes of black America and found that white privilege not only exist, but many whites are blind to it. She gives a clear argument about how white privilege is harmful to our society and how we can work together to fix this.
The overall themes of this poem are beauty, love, and destiny. The speaker constantly discusses beautiful things and how they can help us. Love can be felt throughout the entire poem. In the first stanza, the speaker verbalizes how he “came with love of the race.” He also expresses love for the beautiful things around him. The theme destiny can be seen in the third stanza when the speaker talks about staying on course. It can also be identified in the last stanza when he describes something inevitable that was about to
Throughout the course of history, nations have invested time and manpower into the colonizing and modernizing of more rural governments. Imperialism has spread across the globe, from the British East India Company to France’s occupation of Northern Africa. After their founding in 1776, the United States of America largely stayed out of this trend until The Spanish-American War of 1898. Following the war, the annexation and colonization of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines ultimately set a precedent for a foreign policy of U.S. imperialism.
Although Kipling supports the objective of imperialism, he identifies several flaws associated with it. Firstly, he refers to the duties of the empire as a “burden,” which portrays the negative aspects of imperialism. Secondly, he warns the reader that if he “take[s] up the White Man’s burden” (Kipling line 34), “the blame of those [he] better[s]” and “the hate of those [he] guard[s]” will haunt him. Even though he will supposedly be helping the uncolonized by imposing British rule upon them, they will blame him and hate him. Kipling tells the reader that the White Man’s burden is in fact a “burden”: it is a hardship that he takes upon himself for the sake and goodness of the uncolonized peoples.
“I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group,” Peggy McIntosh wrote in her article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Too often this country lets ignorance be a substitute for racism. Many believe that if it is not blatant racism, then what they are doing is okay. Both the video and the article show that by reversing the terms, there is proof that racism is still very existent in this world. By looking into A Class Divided and White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack along with their ability to broaden the cultural competence, once can see how race is still very prominent in our culture.
America is a presumptuous country; its citizens don’t feel like learning any other language so they make everyone else learn English. White Americans are the average human being and act as the standard of living, acting, and nearly all aspects of life. In her essay “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh talks about how being white has never been discussed as a race/culture before because that identity has been pushed on everyone else, and being white subsequently carries its own set of advantages. Gloria Anzaldua is a Chicana, a person of mixed identities. In an excerpt titled “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she discusses how the languages she speaks identifies who she is in certain situations and how, throughout her life, she has been pushed to speak and act more “American” like. McIntosh’s idea of whiteness as a subconscious race that carries its own advantages can enlighten why Anzaldua feels like she
The passage stresses the futility of man's desires and his efforts to achieve them. This is one of Hurston's main themes in the novel and quite possibly the most important theme to Hurston...
Few situations exist that can strip a person of their ability to influence their world as much as social desolation. In the words of Rudyard Kipling, “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too h...
The men are a vital role in the poem, as the general, uses his military background to help guide and train the “privates” he also distinguishes the role that the men will have to play later on with after the war is done and over with. To help realize this idea it is developed through the speaker, imagery and irony
In it, he claims that the “white man’s burden” is the responsibility to colonize and civilize less advanced countries. In this case, Kipling urges America to imperialize the Philippines, however the goal still stood true in American citizen’s minds with regards to all races, indigenous or otherwise. These ideals stood out to Americans in this time, and may have pushed many of them to further support reformation and colonization of the Native
The speech addresses the issues of racism as a barrier in culture, which is supposed to bring equality and inclusion to everyone. In the poem “The Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes, the author discusses the influence of dominant culture on a colored person in a school. Race is an aspect of dominant culture, and the color of your skin is a barrier between dominant culture and lesser cultures, and it can be overcome by the use of education. Race is an aspect of dominant culture, as it is a prejudgment of people’s classes and social standards by the assessment of their skin color. In “The Theme for English B” the author of the poem talks about dominant culture in a school setting from a colored student’s point of view.
The definition of theme in the dictionary is, a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic. There are numerous works of poetry with a wide variety of themes. This paper will discuss the themes of three poems written by a young lady brought to this country as a slave, and whom left as a free woman. Phillis Wheatley uses eloquent, religious, and themes of freedom in her poems.
Essay 1: WRITE A COHERENT ESSAY IN WHICH YOU ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE USE OF BLACK ICONIC IMAGES (AND OTHER ETHNIC IMAGES) TO SELL PRODUCTS AS THE ECONOMY OF MASS CONSUMPTION EXPANDED IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO INCLUDE IMAGES IN YOUR PAPER! During the 19th and 20th century, America –mostly white collar, middle class Americans- saw a great increase in salaries and a huge rise in mass production which paved the way for the modern American consumerism which we know today. The advertising scene saw a dramatic boost during that period and tried to latch on to this growing pool of emerging consumers. Although only limited to print, advertising during this pivotal period showed panache and reflected American society and popular culture.
Richard Kipling in his “The White Man’s Burden” justifies the idea of expending the superior European civilization and progress along with emphasizing that it is almost an obligation for the people of white race to contribute to the development of people of other “colors” (Lualdi, p. 220). In his poem Kipling points out on the “cost” and consequences of the “fulfillment” of this “duty”, suggesting or “warning [to] all intelligent Americans to avoid imperialism as they would avoid a plague” because of the horrible consequences it may and will bring about (Lualdi, p.
At the time that Rudyard published “The White Man’s Burden”, whites were already conflicted on what to do about the non-whites (US, 437). Some whites claimed that there should be little to no intervention of the whites on the non-white societies because Charles Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest” is the way that things should be (US, 437). The whites who were for intervention argued that it was the humane and religious duty of whites to become involved (US, 437). They also exclaimed that it was better to help the non-white develop because of the need for trade (US, 437). Because there had already been such a debate between the whites over this issue, Rudyard’s poem gained attention quick (lecture notes, 2/8). Rudyard’s work gained attention of American leaders and became an inspiration for future actions of imperialism (lecture notes, 2/8).